Though he may have taken his time, arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden has made it clear where his allegiances lie. The New York Times website today features a report on a new audio tape by the al Qaeda leader urging his followers to battle Israel and to support Hamas. Not surprising, but noted.
The personal stories from Israel don’t always make it out into the open, at least not in a first-person narrative. In this time of national sacrifice, as many are called to the front lines, we felt it important to bring you some of these accounts:
From the South (dated 01 Jan.):
It is the first day in the New Year and it is already light outside.
In two hours I am supposed to be in my class at the university.
I was supposed to be, but the school canceled classes as they also did not want to risks the lives of the students.
Just like the day before when the mayor of Beersheba canceled school and saved the lives of a bunch of grade school students.
Again, I am on the phone with mother worrying and urging me to come home. I stand next to the window and watch a large number of students getting onto the buses that leave the city.
I remind my mother that at home we are not safer, and for the time being I will remain here. (more)
Thomas Friedman has a well-reasoned piece in today’s New York Times that evaluates the current operations in a different light from many of the other articles we’ve seen. (Specifically differing, as he notes, in his analysis of the 2006 war in Lebanon.) The result: some interesting ideas for how to proceed.
An excerpt:
Israel de facto recognizes Hamas’s right to rule Gaza and to provide for the well-being and security of the people of Gaza — which was actually Hamas’s original campaign message, not rocketing Israel. And, in return, Hamas has to signal a willingness to assume responsibility for a lasting cease-fire and to abandon efforts to change the strategic equation with Israel by deploying longer and longer range rockets. That’s the only deal. Let’s give it a try.
Consul General had an interview with the Huffington Post last week and gave a good description of the goings-on. He also cites some facts and figures, about which we have gotten a number of good questions.
A sample:
The United Nations estimates that 25 percent of Palestinian casualties in the present incursion are civilian. Shariv said that as of this Wednesday morning, the IDF estimated the proportion of Palestinian civilians among those killed in the current incursion was “closer to 12 to 13 percent” and emphasized that most of those killed were being used as human shields by Hamas, which wages war from inside schools, hospitals and United Nations facilities.
He added, “When they hit [Israeli] civilians, there’s celebration. When we hit [Palestinian] civilians, there’s an investigation.”
Well, an op-ed in today’s Washington Post puts it quite well. “There are no shortcuts to peace that bypass security.”
That’s what Israel has been saying for the longest time, and it’s the key ingredient of any future agreement. Since the current operations were caused a continued erosion of Israeli security by Hamas, it only follows that Israel’s confidence in a halt to rockets will be necessary to end the operation.
And a responsible Palestinian security service, like that suggested in the article, is certainly an important ingredient.
Photo: Reuters
Iran has said it might be willing to reevaluate its relationship with Israel and the West under certain conditions. If pro-Hamas protestors are running over pictures of present (and future) world leaders with their cars, it makes us wonder what exactly those conditions are.
In today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Bret Stephens argues that Hamas supports the “no state solution.” While it’s pretty obvious that Hamas rejects the existence of the State of Israel, Stephens also points out that it rejects the idea of a future Palestinian state, hoping instead for a larger Islamic caliphate throughout the Middle East.
You can check out the references to Hamas’s charter on our previous post.
Though Hamas has been in the news in recent weeks, Iran’s influence in Gaza has remained out of the public eye. A news piece in today’s New York Times notes how Iran has been working behind the scenes to use the present conflict for its own ends, essentially by actively presenting itself as the champion of radicalism and of Hamas.
There is always a great deal of speculation as to what Iran actually wants from this conflict (one thing is nearly certain, peace is not one of them). Some further analysis from Pajamas Media delves a bit deeper into some of the strategic thinking going on in the region.
And finally, some history on the subject, this from Gulf News, which traces the evolution of Iran’s monetary and military support for Hamas.
Hamas turns a school into a trap for Israeli forces. Were the kids supposed to go to school in the wired building, too?
Also, the New York Times reports on Hamas’s fighting tactics in apartment blocks, booby-trapping corridors and living areas, while fighting out of uniform.
The fact that Hamas has been hiding behaind Gaza’s civilians for the past few weeks comes as no surprise. News articles from the past several years have chronicled these exploitative tactics as they developed and were implemented.
Notable among these articles is one from 2006 by Alan Johnston of the BBC on how children and old men gathered to prevent an Israeli operation.
Also, we bring you below an article from the LA Times, on the same topic. continue reading…
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